Electronic torquementer and horsepower indicator



June 2, 1953 2,640,352

' ELECTRONIC TORQUEMETER AND HORSEPOWER INDICATOR L. E. ELLIISON ETAL Filed March 19, 1948 INVENTORS LYNN E. ELL/6'0 RONALD la mo crol? y ZiLV-J ATTORIVE) Patented June 2; 1953 ELECTRONIC TORQUEMETER AND HORSEPOWER INDICATOR Lynn E. Ellison, Crystal Lake; and Ronald R.

Proctor, Evanston, 111.,

Oil Company, Chicago,

assignors to The Pure 111., a corporation of Application March 19, 1948, Serial No. 15,928 4 Claims. (01. 73-136) This invention relates to a torque, speed and power indicator which is particularly useful in measuring the amount of power transmitted by a shaft through a measurement of its twist under load and its speed of rotation.

It is an object of the invention to provide an electronic detecting and indicating device which will measure the amount of torque developed by an engine.

It is another object of the invention to provide an electronic indicating device which will indicate directly the rate of rotation of an engme.

Another object of the invention is to provide an electrical indicating device which will measure directly the power output of an engine.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.

. Our invention comprises an apparatus for performing torque, speed and power measurements by determining the degree of twist in a shaft transmitting power, the speed of rotation of the shaft and the power delevoped thereby through determining the product of the two quantities. The apparatus includes indicating pins or studs longitudinally displaced on the shaft of a test engine, pick-up units including coils and magnets for producing electrical signals in the form of pulses from said indicating devices, and counting and integrating circuits connected to the pick-up units to determine the number and frequency of the pulses, thereby to give current indications proportional thereto, which current indications are multiplied together to delevop an indication of power developed. The arrangement of elements includes relay tubes which develop a current signal proportional to the ratio of the conducting time to the non-conducting time of one of them, which is related to the degree of twist of a power shaft and thus forms a basis for the power measurement to be made.

The drawing accompanying this specification. is a diagrammatic representation of the circuit comprising the apparatus.

In the figure, l indicates the engine or prime pins or studs 4 and 5, which are spaced longi-- tudinally on the shaft and, by the angular displacement between them when the shaft is loaded, indicate the extent to which the shaft is twisted. The pins are preferably mounted radially on the shaft and at their outer extremities are turned at about right angles to point longitudinally along .the shaft.

For convenience in tracing the circuit, the: power supply will be used as a starting point and plate circuits traced therefrom. Thus, l0 indicates, in general, the power supply which consists of an alternating current generator or source ll connected to transformer I 2 having a primary coil I210 and a secondary '28. The genconstituting the detecting and measuring circuits is applied by connection to line 18. Line l9, taken from the center point of [28 supplies bias voltages to various parts of the circuit. Filament upply for all of the tubes is obtained from coil l2 on the secondary side of transformer l2.

By means of line 18, late voltage is supplied through plate load resistor 20 to pick-up and amplifier tube 2| having plate 22, control grid 23 and cathode 24. Signals are applied to the control grid 23 through grid resistor 25 after they are generated by coil 26 and registered as a voltage across resistor 21. Tube 2| is shown as a duo-triode, but since the plates and grids are connected together, it is effectively a single tube and is referred to as suc be used. 'In a similar manner, plate voltage is supplied by line l8 through plate load resistor- 30 to pick-up and amplifier tube 3| having plate 32; grid 33 and cathode 34. Signals are applied Like tube 2|, tube 3| is .shown as a duo-triode having its plates and grids connected together to form, in efiect, a single tube and is referred to as such.

Plate voltage is supplied by line 40, a branch of line l8, plate load resistors 4|, 42, and switch- 43 to tube 44 having plate 45, grids 46 and 4'1,-

. and cathode 48.

Signals from pick-up and amplifier. tube 2| are applied to control grid of The coil l2s is center tapped.

tube 44 through capacitor 50 and resistors i and 52, which are connected to line ill and constitute the path back to the ground side of the power supply. Tube 44 is a gas discharg tube, commonly referred to as a thyratron, which operates intermittently as a relay tube, alternately initiating and quenching conduction in a second relay tube. Variable resistor 4| and switch .3 are used in preliminary calibration of the meter and in setting zero points.

Plate voltage is similarly applied by load resistors 4| and 12 to tube 66 having plate 5!, grids 62, 63, and cathode 64. Signals obtained from pick-up unit 3! are amplified by tube 3| and applied to the control grid of tub 51!) through capacitor 65 and resistors 66 and 51, which with line 19 constitute the return path to the ground side of the power supply. Like tube 44, tube- 80 is a gas discharge type, or thyratron, and operates intermittently as a relay tube.

Connection between the relay tubes 44 and fill. to form a differential measuring device is made through capacitor l0. which connects the oathodes 48 and 6.4, respectively, of the two tubes. The path of plate current in tube 46 to ground is through resistor H.

The path of plate current in tube 63 is through resistor '12, one 001113 of power meter 14, through meter [5, which serves to indicate the torque, and then to round.

Meters 14 and T5 are shunted by calibrating and damping circuits l4 and respectively.

For developing a speed measurement which is multiplied with the torque measurement to indicate power, a revolution counting element is includedin the circuit, which consists of an amplitying tube and an integrating tube which apply their developed signal to the power meter. Plate voltage is taken from the. power supply by lines l8 and 80 through the meter circuit and applied to the amplifier tube 83' at plate 84. Tube 83 has control grid 85 and cathode 8.6. Signals to indicate speed are obtained, from pick-up unit 31 and applied by line 81 through resistors 88 and 89 to control grid 85. Alternatively, this signal could'be taken from the plate of tube 3| and applied through a smal1 capacitor to the grid of tube 83. Tube 90 having plate 9|, control grid 52, cathode 93', is resistance coupled to tube 83 and acts as a second stage of amplification, obtaining its signal through capacitor 9'4 from the plate of tube 83", which signal is applied to the control grid 92 of tube fill. Resistor 95 is a plate load resistor for tube 98. Resistor 8| is to provide positive bias on grid 92 of tube 90.

Plate voltage is supplied by lines l8 and 80 through the meter circuit to tube I09 having plate FBI, grids H32, H33, [04, and cathode H15. Signals obtainedfrom tube are applied through capacitor: H16, switch H11 and resistors H18, I09, and rid resistor Hit, to the control grid I04- of tube I00. Bias voltage is: obtained from the power supply through. resistor ma.

Blate current for. tube lfill flows from the power supply through line 88, coil l2}. of meter [4, coil [22, of meter {23: and through resistors I24 and 25 to the plate ml of. tube I09. and to ground at the. cathode I05. Circuits T4, 15., 23, shunting meters, M, 15 and 123. respectively, are calibration and damping circuits for the meters.

The operation of the instrument is best understood by tracing the. course of, a signal generated at the pick-up unit through the apparatus. To facilitate this tracing, the path of the: principal signal with. which measurement is made has been indicated by means of a. line of double weight.

Signals to aid in the measurement of torque and speed of rotation are derived from the pins and pick-up units 2%) and 31, which consist of coils woundon iron cores each having a permanent magnet placed at one end to establish a magnetic field therethrough. One end, of the iron core of each pick-up unit is so placed that when pins 4 and 5 rotate, they will pass within close proximity, for example, a few thousandths of an inch from the pole pieces of the pick-up units. The passage of the pins past the pole pieces or through the magnetic fields, distorts the fields and generates a voltage in each of the coils of pick-up units 26 and 31.

The signal, generated in pick-up unit 26 passes through variable resistor 21 to ground, thereby generating one cycle of alternating voltage which is impressed through resistor 25 to the control grid 23 of. tube 2|. When the negative half-cycle of this voltage is applied to the grid 23, the plate current drawn through resistor 20 is interrupted with a consequent rise of plate voltage appearing at plate. 22. Capacitor 58 becomes charged, thereby impressing a signal on grid 41 of tube 44 by causing current to how through resistors 5| and 52 to ground. The appearance of the positive voltage on grid 41 causes plate 45 to start drawing current which passes to ground through resistor H and causes the appearance of a positive voltage across capacitor Ill.

The signal generated at pick-up unit 31 passes through variable resistor 36 and is impressed through the resistor 35 on the grid 33 of tube 3|. When the voltage applied to the grid 33 of tube 3| is negative with respect to its cathode, the tube is caused'tobe cutoff. The voltage at the plate rises to the value of the supply voltage and causes capacitor 65 to become charged and show an increased voltage. The current impulse is impressed through capacitor 65, onto resistors 68 and 6?, at the same time causing a voltage to be applied to grid 63 of tube 60. This increase in voltage on grid 53 causes the plate (5| of tube 69 to start drawing current which flows through resistor l2 and meters T 5 and '15 causing the two meters to respond to current passed by tube 60.

As indicated in the description oi the layout of the circuit, tubes 44 and 60 have their cathodesconnected together by capacitor 70' in order that they may function as relay tubes to switch each other on and oil" and thus to relate the ratio of ontime to ofif-time for tube (ill to the average current passed thereby. It will be noted that both thyratronsare served by the same plate load resistors- 4| and 42. The fundamental operation of a thyratron is such that if a voltage is applied to the grid thereof, with circuit constants properly adjusted, a pulse applied to the grid can cause the thyratron to fire and pass current. At this point, the grid loses control and the current passes continuously, limited only by the resistance in the circuit, until the plate voltage is reduced or the cathode voltage raised. To accomplish this switching or relay action with tube 60, the second thyratron 44 is included in the circuit and draws current through the same plate resistor. This second thyratron, tube 44, is fired by the signal applied from the pick-up unit 26 with the result that thevoltage drop across the plate resistors 4| and 42- increases suddenly, thereby reducing the plate voltage of conducting thyratron fill. At the time tube 44' fires, by means of the connection between the cathodes accomplished by capacitor Hi, the cathode of'tube 60 receives a positive pulse, which pulse is actually suflicientto make the cathode momentarily positive with tube 44 to cut o-if current respect to the plate. Thus, tube 60 is extinguished and only tube 44 passes current for the remainder of a revolution of the shaft. The current flowing through tube 44 passes to ground through resistor 1|. Tube 44, therefore, conducts for the remainder of the revolution of the shaft until it receives a pulse from tube 60, initiatedby pick-up 31, and 1's extinguished, upon which current again flows through tube 60 and the meters 14 and 15.

Thus, these meters receive current intermittently and by the arrangement of calibrating and damping circuits shunting them will indicate an average current which is dependent in value on the ratio of the on-time to the off-time of tube 60. This ratio is constant at any speed of the engine fly wheel as long as the load remains constant and there is no change of angular displacement between pins 4 and 5. When the load changes, this ratio changes accordingly.

Therefore, when shaft 2 is in its normal position under no load, pins 4 and 5 are in the relationship corresponding to the condition of no power being absorbed by the load. Such displacement ofthe pins as exists is then measured by the relay-tubes 44 and 60 and indicated upon the meter as the condition of zero torque. As the amount of power absorbed by load 3 is increased, shaft 2 will twist, thus angularly-displacing pin 4 relative to pin 5. The eifect of the greater relative displacement of the pins causes flow through tube-60, after a greater lapse of thus allowing tube 60 to draw current longer and meter 15 to indicate the change of twist in shaft 2. Since the total current through meter 15 is dependent only on the ratio of on-time to oil-time of the tube 60, the torque readings are independent of speed of rotation.

Speed of rotation of the shaft 2 is registered by meter I23 and combined with torque'measurement to give an indication of power in meter 14 after integration by tubes 83, 90 and I00. Each time pin 5 passes the pole piece on pick-up 31 a voltage is generated which is fed through conductor 81 to resistors 88 and 89, thus being impressed upon control grid 85 in tube 83. When grid .85 swings negative, the plate current decreases, allowing the voltage on'the anode to rise. This produces a voltage increase across capacitor 94 and produces a voltage upon grid 92 of tube 90. As the grid 92 turns negative with respect to its cathode, the plate current decreases, thus allowing the plate voltage to rise, which increased voltage appears across capacitor I06. With this increase in voltage across capacitor I06, current flows to switch I01 where it passes through resistors I08 and I09 back to the power supply. This current flow through resistors I08 and I09 produces a voltage, impressed through resistor III), on grid I04 of tube I00. Control grid I04 is biased, with respect to its cathode, to the cut off point of the tube I00. When this condition exists, the plate IOI ceases to draw current, and, when grid I04 becomes positive, the anode IOI draws current.

This anode current is supplied from the power supply through lead 80 through coil I2I of meter 14, through coil I22 of meter I23, through resistors I24 and I25 and to the anode of tube I00. When the pulses from pick-up 31 are impressed upon the grid 85 and are amplified and are impressed through capacitor 94 to grid 92, the wave form on anode 9| assumes a square wave patresistor 12 and meter 15 time in each revolution,

tern. This is impressed upon -grid I04 of tube I00 via capacitor I06, and resistor II 0. As each pulse of current flows through meter I23, the voltage differential existing across coil I22 will produce a deflection. The shunting circuit around meter I 23 is made with a sufiiciently large time constant to average the current pulses. Thus, when several impulses of current have passed through coil I 22, the indicating needle will move a definite amount proportional to the frequency of pulses passing through meter I23. Upon meter 14, the current pulses passing through coil I2I are averaged by the capacitor in damping circuit 14. The variable resistor in the damping circuit I23 across meter I23 is for calibrating the currents drawn by the tube I00 when the control grid I94 of tube I00 is positive. This control grid is made positive for calibrating purposes when switch I01 is in position I I I.

In order to measure the amount of power developed, it is necessary to determine the product of torque by the shaft speed. Meter 14 having two windings as shown in the figure is employed to indicate a value proportional to the product of the two currents. If either coil passes no current, the meter indicates zero. When both coils are energized, the indicator will panying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

- 1. A power indicating apparatus in combination with a stage to re'ceiveimpulses from one of said voltage generating units and. an integrating and measuring stage connected thereto to develop a current proportional to the speed of. the shaft and means in the circuit to combine the two current. quantities, thereby to indicate power.

2. In combination with a power shaft, longitudinally spaced voltage generators for producing electrical signalsv at a rate proportional. to the rate of rotation of the shaft, an electronic circuit responsive to said electrical signals, said circuit including electronic amplifying means, electronic relay means, including cathodes, connected to each of said voltage generators to pick up amplified electrical signals therefrom and having a capacitor connected between cathodes of said relay means, said signals being separated by a time interval proportional to the amount of twist in the shaft, said relay means being actuated by said electrical signals to be rendered conducting and non-conducting successively to develop a first current signal proportional to the ratio of conducting time to non-conducting time, another electronic circuit including electronic amplifying means, having cathodes and anodes, consistingof a plurality of stages of amplification and integrating means connected to one of said voltage generators for developing a second current signal proportional only to the rate of rotation of said shaft, said stages of amplification being connected in series, metering means resistance-coupled to cathodes and anodes of said amplifying and integrating means to indicate a power quantity proportional to the product of said first and second current signals.

3-. A. power indicating apparatus'comprising in combination with a shaft for delivering power, a first voltage impulse generating means comprising. a pin on said shaft-and a magnet and coil reluctance generator mounted close to said pin and held in' fixed spaced relationship thereto, resistance coupled electronic amplifying means connected to said impulse generating means, electronic relay means including a gas discharge tube connected to the output of said amplifying means, a second impulse generating unit substantially like said; first and displaced longitudinally along said shait: and adapted to be displaced angularly by torque on said shaft; a second amplifying unit substantially like said first and a second relay means. substantially like said first connected to said second, impulse generating unit, a capacitance-coupling between the cathodes of. said two means to cause the alternate voltage sighole to: render conducting and. non-conducting one-of said relay means, thereby to produce a current. in the cathode circuit of said relay means of a magnitude proportional, to the ratio of con.-

ducting time to non-conducting time and, therefore, proportional to the angular displacementof the said pins of said voltage generating means, a multiple amplifying and integrating stage connectcd. to one of said impulse generating. means and a measuring stage connected thereto to provide av current of a magnitude proportional to speed, and double-coil metering means, one coil of which is in series with the cathodes of. said relay means and the other coil of which is in series. with the anodes of said amplifying and integrating stage, said double-coil metering means adapted to indicate the product of the two current quantities, thereby to indicate power.

4. A-power indicating apparatus comprising in combination with a shaft for delivering power, a first electrical signal generating means comprising a pin on said shaft and a coil reluctance generator mounted close to said pin being held in fixed space-relationship-thereto, amplifying means connected to said signal generating means, relay means connected to the output of said amplifying means, a second electrical signal generating means substantially identical with said first and displaced therefrom along said shaft, a second amplifying means substantially identical with said first and a second relay means substantially like said first connected to said second signal generating means, a capacitance coupling between the cathodes of said two relay means to cause the alternate electrical signals to render conducting and non-conducting one of said relay means, thereby to produce a cathode current proportional in magnitude to the ratio of conducting to non-conducting time and proportional to the angular displacement of said pins of said signal generating means, an amplifying stage to receive signals from one of'sai'd signal generating means, an integrating and measuringcircuit responsive to said amplified signals from said amplifying stage to develop a current proportional to the speed of rotation ofsaid shaft, and means in the circuit to combine the two current quantities, thereby to indicate power.

LYNN E. ELLISON. RONALD R. PROCTOR.

References Cited. in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

